By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

AURORA, Ill. – The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) says a group of well-trained, highly paid school administrators with the West Aurora District 129 failed to follow a state law that is designed to protect students from sexual predators.

But district officials insist three school leaders did nothing wrong when they decided not to notify DCFS officials over allegations that a teacher had inappropriate contact with a student in the summer of 2010.

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The West Aurora 129 school board affirmed that belief Tuesday night when it voted to hire outside counsel to represent the three school administrators in question, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The state’s attorney’s office has not yet announced that it is investigating the matter, according to the paper.

The controversy stems from a July 2010 incident when then-custodian Leon Smith heard “giggling and talking” coming from a dark room as he was preparing to lock up West Aurora High School for the day, reports the Tribune.

He decided to investigate and discovered a young female student alone in a dark room with high school band director Stephen Orland, who tried to run when he became aware of Smith’s presence.

Smith could not identify the girl, and school leaders said they couldn’t identify the alleged victim even after checking band schedules and security camera footage, reports the Tribune.

Smith reported the incident to his supervisor, who passed the news to the building principal, who in turn notified the district superintendent, the Tribune reports.

Orland, the suspected teacher, denied any wrongdoing during multiple interviews with school officials.

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Sometime after the July 2010 incident, another school employee observed Orland having inappropriate contact with a student, the Tribune reports. School leaders immediately contacted DFCS and police.

A subsequent investigation discovered that Orland had sexual encounters with two female students, “although it is not clear if one of them was the girl Smith alleges he saw,” the Tribune reports.

“(Investigators) also accused Orland of sending thousands of intimate text messages to the students as well as leaving notes in their lockers,” according to the paper.

Orland was arrested and pled guilty last March to two counts of criminal sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Last month, the West Aurora district issued a statement explaining the administrators’ original decision to not notify state officials.

“ … (T)he district did not have an alleged victim or any allegation from a student or parent of improper conduct, nor did the observation of the custodian show improper conduct,” the statement read. “No report was made to DCFS as the facts would not support an allegation of abuse or neglect. Teachers are alone with students on numerous occasions.”

Sounds kind of flimsy to us. Even if it isn’t unusual for teachers to be alone with students, it seems highly unlikely that a teacher would be alone with a student in a dark room after hours for legitimate reasons.

Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Kendall Marlowe told the Tribune that West Aurora officials are missing the point entirely.

“Schools and institutions often incorrectly assume that it is their option to first investigate and make their own determination on the credibility of an allegation,” Marlowe said. “That is not Illinois law. The law in this state requires that if you have reason to suspect a child is being abused or neglected, you call.”

Could one or both of the female students been spared from being sexually abused by Orland if school leaders had followed the law after Smith’s initial allegation?

Did school leaders jeopardize the safety of their students by failing to notify DCFS officials of Orland’s July 2010 behavior?

Smith, the former high school custodian, offers a possible answer.

“All (administrators) had to do was call and investigate and they would have stopped it there,” Smith told the Tribune. “They can say whatever they want. It was enough evidence to have (Orland) on leave and check it out.”

Seems to us that the custodian has better judgment than the school administrators, and would make a pretty fine superintendent.